Italian sociologist and founder of the research institute Makno (1979), where he led studies on social change, political behavior, and the evolution of post-industrial Italian society. Since the early 1980s, his work has focused on the transformation of urban and territorial systems, including deindustrialization, demographic decline, and the socio-economic future of peripheral and rural communities. He has also developed research on housing, urban regeneration, and the cultural economy, establishing an international observatory on housing and design in 2003. A professor at IULM University, Abis has advised the Italian government on metropolitan strategic planning and collaborated with the G124 group led by Renzo Piano on urban peripheries. His research explores longevity and community resilience in Blue Zone territories, also in Sardinia, linking social cohesion, local culture, and sustainable development.

Architects and founders of Associates Architecture, based in Brescia, Italy, conceived as a laboratory where practice meets architecture and craftsmanship. The office is guided by a method that seeks the original idea of things, beginning with a deep study and understanding of the physical and cultural context in which it is called to operate. Each project takes shape through a tailored and patient process capable of expressing the identity of the places it engages with. Their projects span multiple scales and geographies, with works completed in Italy, Brazil, Spain, Mexico, and Portugal. Associates Architecture has been featured in major international exhibitions, including the 16th and 17th Venice Architecture Biennale, the São Paulo Architecture Biennial, the 5th Lisbon Architecture Triennale, and the Triennale di Milano. They have also been invited to deliver lectures and hold visiting professorships at leading Italian and European universities, and edited the recent publication Ordinary Beauty. An Italian Scenario (2025) which brings together the work of sixty-one Italian practices.

He is a Portuguese landscape architect and founder of PROAP – Estudos e Projectos de Arquitectura Paisagista, an internationally recognised practice based in Lisbon. He is Full Professor of Landscape Architecture at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, Università della Svizzera italiana. His work spans landscape design, territorial strategies, and urban interventions across Europe, the Middle East, and beyond, with a strong focus on the cultural and ecological dimensions of landscape. Among his most acclaimed projects are the Jardim das Ondas at Expo Zaragoza, the Ribeira das Naus waterfront in Lisbon, and the Park Spoor Noord in Antwerp, all widely recognised and awarded for their design quality. He has also developed projects in Sardinia and is therefore familiar with the region’s specific environmental and territorial conditions. Nunes’ work is widely published and has received numerous international awards, reflecting a practice that combines conceptual clarity with a deep sensitivity to context, memory, and environmental processes.

Italian architect, researcher, and professor of Architectural and Urban Design at the University of Catania. Founder of NOWA (Navarra Office Walking Architecture), his work investigates the relationship between architecture and landscape. He has developed a body of work focused on fragile territories and post-catastrophe environments, exploring architecture as a form of spatial repair and collective transformation. His projects investigate the relationship between geology, infrastructure, memory, and abandonment, proposing experimental design practices as active grounds for new forms of inhabitation and landscape regeneration. He has exhibited projects and installations at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Milan Triennale, the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal. His work has been recognized internationally, including nominations for the Mies van der Rohe Award, the European Prize for Urban Public Space, as well as the Medaglia d’Oro for Italian Architecture. Alongside practice and research, he has authored numerous books on architecture and landscape transformation.

Swiss architect and founder of Leopold Banchini Architects, an internationally active practice based in Geneva. Educated at the Glasgow School of Art and EPFL Lausanne, he has developed a body of work spanning architecture, research, exhibition design, and pedagogy. His practice is known for exploring site-specific forms of construction, often working across architecture, craft, and collective making. Before establishing his office in 2016, he collaborated with B720 Arquitectos, and Group8. His projects have received international recognition, including the Golden Lion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Swiss Art Award and the first price for the CEVA Champel public space competition. Alongside practice, he has taught widely in Europe, including at EPFL, the Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam, and the Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD).